The term “web” is used to describe materials having a length considerably larger than a width, and a width considerably larger than a thickness. Webs are materials manufactured and processed in a continuous, flexible strip form. Webs consist of a broad spectrum of materials that are used extensively in everyday life such as plastics, paper, textile, metals and composites. Web materials may be manufactured into rolls since it is easy to transport and process the materials in the rolled form.
Web handling is a term that is used to refer to the study of the behavior of the web while it is transported and controlled through the processing machinery from an unwind roll to a rewind roll. A typical operation involves transporting a web in rolled, unfinished form from an unwind roll to a rewind roll through processing machinery where the required processing operations are performed. An example of such a process is commonly seen in the metals industries. The web (metal strip) to be processed is transported on rollers to various sections where different operations like coating, painting, drying, slitting, etc., are performed. The process line generally has unwind and rewind rolls, many idle rollers and one or more intermediate driven rollers.